Not every restaurant can say James Beard crafted their opening menu and stayed on as a consultant for several years.

But The American Restaurant isn't like many restaurants. It opened during the renaissance of American cuisine and has produced a number of James Beard Award winners through the years. This year marks its 40th anniversary, and to celebrate, the restaurant is welcoming back past chefs to cook for its monthly anniversary chef series dinners.

What makes The American special?

The American Restaurant was designed to be the crown jewel of Crown Center in Kansas City, and no expense was spared to ensure that happened, said Jamie Jamison, general manager of The American. In addition to James Beard, legendary restaurateur Joe Baum provided expertise during the early years. Renowned architect and interior designer Warren Platner, known for Windows on the World, designed The American. Wolfgang Puck even worked briefly at The American as a sous chef. A number of The American's chefs and cooks have gone on to own their restaurants.

"It's a platform where you're able to have the best equipment, the best people and owner support which is unparalleled in this industry," Jamison said.

Three past chefs who are participating in the dinner series said The American gave them full creative license to craft the menu and develop their skills.

"I have a great love for The American Restaurant," said Debbie Gold, a James Beard Award-winning chef who worked two stints at The American as an executive chef. "When I first started, I was sort of up-and-coming. It was a way to establish myself in my career, and it really kind of put me on the map."

While at The American, she won her first James Beard Award. The American taught her about the business aspect of restaurants, and it gave her the opportunity to hone her craft and develop her signature style, she said.

"You get a lot of freedom to create food, which for a chef is an amazing place to be," she said.

The American is one of the nation's few restaurants that invites chefs from throughout the United States to host dinners and do cooking classes, she said. And they were doing it before the celebrity chef craze, she said.

Gold went on to open her restaurant, 40 Sardines, has done restaurant consulting and competed on Bravo's television show, "Top Chef Masters."

Alex Pope, who owns the local butcher shop and eatery, The Local Pig, learned how to butcher at The American.

"I kind of call it my graduate school," Pope said of The American, where he worked his way up from a garde manger cook to a sous chef.

Pope wanted to butcher, so he persuaded then-Executive Chef Celina Tio to let him buy a pig and butcher it.

"I got a book (about butchering) and came in early one morning, so no one would see me messing it up. It was pretty bad," Pope said. "I had no idea what I was doing. ... I got a lot of support from Celina to just do my thing and make mistakes, and she was really cool about it."

Pope perfected his skill, and butchering became his signature at The American.

With butchering, the menu could change every day – whether it's featuring pork belly one night or pork chops the next, he said.

"If you're always making the same dishes, you're not learning anything," Pope said. "When you change the menu, you get to try a lot of different techniques, a lot of new flavors and new everything. A lot of my recipes that I still use today I developed while I was there at The American."

One aspect that attracted Celina Tio to The American was the Hall family.

"It was a great environment, and they allowed their chefs to be who they were," said Tio, who worked as executive chef and now owns three restaurants. "I just loved my experience at The American."

One of her favorite memories of The American was seeing Adele and Don Hall Sr., who dined at the restaurant throughout the year. Tio called the couple "awesome."

Despite leading a busy life, Adele Hall would remember the small things about people, she said. Months after Tio had her daughter, Maia, Adele Hall kept track and said, "Oh, she's about 9 months old now, right?"

"With all the things she did in this city and knowing so many people, how the heck did she remember that? She always amazed me," Tio said.

Like Gold, Tio also won a James Beard Award while working at The American.

"Being at the restaurant gave me the opportunity to be recognized on a national level. Had I been somewhere else, it might not have been the same," she said. "You have to do many things right to stick around for 40 years, and having creative chefs, I think, is certainly part of that. We're a lucky city to have had it for so long."